"We the willing, led by the unknowing, are doing the impossible for the ungrateful. We have done so much, with so little, for so long, we are now qualified to do anything, with nothing" By Konstantin Josef Jireček, a Czech historian, diplomat and slavist.

February 14, 2015 (SSB) — Today I am punching the keyboard of my machine in a jovial mood for having learnt that the government of H.E Gen. Salva Kiir has heeded to the calls of many and analysed the civil conditions in the country and concluded that the 30th June 2015 elections are not as important as the lives of those citizens in dire need of peace. Others perhaps had developed a myopic feeling towards my concerns but I will always be inclined to where the truth lies. So, today; I stand like I have always done with the government right decision.

Extending the presidency and the elected position for two years is the popular decision made by the GRSS since the hell got loss in Juba in the mid of December 2013. This is the decision that will be applauded by whichever side of the political divide because it’s indeed in the best interest of the nation. Elections can’t be priorities when the electorates are starving in the IDPs camps. No human being will ever wake up to attend to political responsibilities when the basic needs are not catered for. Am glad to eventually point out that off late sense is being restored and my sincere hope is that this decision was not made to please the western nations who had confirmed their disappointments in the poles but to rather benefit the locals.

I hope those in my brackets of being opinion givers, indeed the very people who condemned me on this very platform on my article “SOUTH SUDAN’S 2015 ELECTIONS: AN EPITOME OF FAILURE” will now take to this podium once again and condemn the Government of the Republic of South Sudan (GRSS) for making a decision in favour of the concerned nationals. My friends dismissed my opinion to hell when I cited that peace is paramount before the poles; the same reason why H.E and his cabinet prolonged the validity of the government term in office.

I will never on any ground dismiss my elected government on the basis of being illegitimate when the decision has been made to favour me; the common man. I hereby declare my approval to the extension of the Twic East County Parliamentary seat and the Roor State Mp occupied by Hon. Deng Dau Deng Malek and Hon Amuor Kuol Ager.

Your Excellency, this decision has once again restored the confidence of South Sudanese in you. You have demonstrated that the hell you suffered in the bush to have them a free home was not in jeopardy. It’s a clear indication that indeed you are committed to the better living conditions of everyone even if it has proved difficult to implement. It’s always a good ordeal to think of people before taking and public decision, a practice I would wish to have been there in place since the inception.

I am pleased on my own behave and on behave of those who hold the same opinion that postponing the elections is the ultimate choice for now.

If indeed my colleagues are independent minded, if they support the government’s decisions not blindly, if their stand is not compromised by situation, then; I am waiting to see their writings here dismissing the decision of the mighty government to postpone elections. Sycophancy will be proved here in this situation if you don’t cling to your initial opinion about “MUST ELECTIONS IN 2015”. But if you agree this time, the cabinet cited the same reason as me, why didn’t you say yes then?

As I concluded, I have no much to write but only to affirm my position once again that the grounds you have made the decisions on are valid. Thank you Mr. President.

The author is a student of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Kenyatta University; Nairobi Kenya.

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The opinion expressed here is solely the view of the writer. The veracity of any claim made are the responsibility of the author, not PaanLuel Wël: South Sudanese Bloggers (SSB) website. If you want to submit an opinion article or news analysis, please email it to paanluel2011@gmail.com. SSB do reserve the right to edit material before publication. Please include your full name, email address and the country you are writing from.

Firstly, if one cannot stand up by putting a face or their name to a statement they believe in, maybe they should not state or write it at all. That said, I would like to respond to some things raised by the unnamed author of “South Sudan: In Jonglei, David Yau Yau is not the Problem.”

(1) The author wrote, “In post-independence South Sudan the majority of rebel leaders have been Nuer and there have been no, insignificant (sic), Dinka rebel leaders; the biggest tribal group in South Sudan, occupying both presidential posts to date. Why should they rebel?”

This is a laughably sad condescending statement. For the record, (a) In post-independent South Sudan, there has been only one president, so the “both” the author is referring to does not make sense. (b) Equating a presidential post to be a satisfactory factor of not having a grievance is as an absurd statement as saying that African-Americans have no grievances because Obama is the president. It is plain silly to say that Jieng (aka Dinka) have no reasons to rebel because the president is a Jieng. This statement infers that Jieng are the SOLE beneficiaries of the presidency, this is a falsehood something many NGOs working in Jieng homeland can corroborate. (c) Ido not know how one determines significance of rebel leaders but I think there was a certain George Athor not so long ago whose personal grievances were not amalgamated to mean a greater cause of Pigi his home county.

(2) …“but at a much lower scale the motivation of the Murle is the same as Palestinians, who want their own state within South Sudan.The Murle and DYY are also not the only ones in todays South Sudan who are campaigning for greater self-determination – just take a look at the ongoing low-level shilluk rebellion against the Dinka in Upper Nile State.”

Wow! Really? (a) There is an ocean between Palestinian issues and Murle – they cannot be compared whatsoever even in a context of this supposed notion of self-determination by the Murle people. The two causes are incomparable – even the ideological definition of self-determination is different among the Palestinians and the Murle (on a personal note, I think it is an insult to the Palestinian cause). (b) In addition, the supposed rebellion against Jieng for self-determination in Upper Nile is just a palpable fib. This is perpetuating falsehood of big bad Jieng,hell bent on destroying and colonising the minority. Firstly, the Upper Nile State is a home to three peoples, Collo (aka Shilluk) Kingdom, Jieng and Naath (aka Nuer). The Collo Kingdom is the home to some of the most influential people in the history of Sudan namely: Dr. Peter Adwok Nyaba, Pagan Amum, Gen. Oyai Deng Ajak, Dr. Lam Akol (leader of SPLM-DC) and Baguot Amum (Pagan’s sister and wife of late Nyancigak, SPLA Commander from Murle). Secondly, historically the Collo lived on the west bank of the river Nile during the British colonial times while Jieng and Naath lived on the eastern bank. However, during the wars, people were continually displaced and subsequently Collo settled along the eastern bank resulting in frictions with Jieng around the areas of Lul and Anakdiaar. Thirdly, in relation to various rebellions in Upper Nile, namely that of Gabriel Tanginya and Johnson Oliny, these were not specifically against Jieng or Nuer but against the government in Juba. Tanginya was unhappy with the terms and rewards of incorporation into the SPLA. Oliny on the other hand was unhappy how his ancestral community was treated. Oliny’s community straddles the Sobat River, which marks the southern border of Upper Nile State and northern border of Jonglei State. During rainy season, the people migrate from one side of the river to the other, essentially crossing state borders. The community therefore fell through the bureaucracy as the two state governments passed them back and forth and not accepting them into one state. This was not the fault of Jieng or Nuer community but that of the government. Fourthly, no Jieng has ever been a governor in Upper Nile in post-independent South Sudan. Therefore using Upper Nile State as an example shows how the author has no understanding of the issues in South Sudan.

(3) “I have no sympathy for DYY I don’t know how many crimes he has committed and few people do……….. Very few Murle people actually subscribe to DYY’s political agenda, if such a thing can be said to exist, but he has become a last resort for community protection among the Murle.”

This is a glaringly contradictory statement from the author who equated Murle’s grievances with Palestine’s cause and Yauyau’s stated political agenda as similar. The author stated that Murle wanted a state of their own in South Sudan something, which Yauyau actually said was an objective of his rebellion. Therefore, how can the author back away and say that Murle do not subscribe to Yauyau’s political agenda? The author also says, Yauyau has become a resort for community protection, against whom?

This is an astonishingly dishonest statement from the author. I do not know whether the author is aware that Anyuak, Jieng, and Lou were the first to be disarmed in 2006 in Jonglei and Murle were not. Small Arms Survey reports are quite insightful. Just to give a bit of context, in 2005 Lou Nuer and Jieng of Duk clashed for the first since peace was agreed between Jieng and Nuer. The government for whatever reasons decided between January and March in 2006 to forcibly disarm people. It conducted a preferential disarmament campaign targeting in Jonglei, Nuer, Jieng and Anyuak. Jieng and Anyuak handed their weapons in peacefully although woman, girls and children suffered abuses in the rural areas and were promised compensation by then Governor Philip Thon Leek. That promise was not kept. Nuer on the other hand refused citing the fact that Murle and Jikany Nuer of Upper Nile still had arms. This led to a confrontation in May in which 400 SPLA and 1,200 Lou Nuer were killed. SPLA committed many atrocities as a result while the UN, many NGOs and commentators turned a blind eye. Nuer blamed Jieng and the government because the General, Kuol Dim, who was in charge of disarmament in Jonglei was a Jieng.

Thereafter, Lou repeatedly harassed Duk County until in May 2007 Jieng of Duk ë Padiet retaliated and looted 20,000 heads of cattle and killed unknown number of people. Here is a summary (Most of it from Small Arms survey, News Reports, IRIN Website, International Crisis Group and academic journal articles):

(b) Murle attacks Duk county and kill 47 people while they are under attack! One thought they would be busy defending themselves!

Feb: 2012:

Murle attacks Anyidi in Bor County and kills nine Jieng and in retaliation, Jieng in Bor Town kills seven.

March 2012:

Murle attacks Nyirol County and kills 30 Lou Nuer

March 2012:

Murle attacks and kills 225 in Ethiopia and within Jonglei.

If one does the math, it is quickly apparent that the Murle are not a targeted victim minority that the author makes them out to be. It is quiet clear that they are very aggressive and have been the primary source of instability in Jonglei at least since the signing of CPA in 2005.

Commentary

Jonglei State has many problems stemming from weak governance at both state and national level. Certainly, taking sides and misinforming the world will not help the local people whether they are Jieng, Naath or Murle. The fundamental problem in Jonglei lies in the fact that the state is vast with no strong civil administrative institutions. (1) All ofSouth Sudan is aggrieved, from a bad government. (2) Ethnicity is used as an excuse for impunity. When Abel Alier was the Head of HEC in 70s following Addis Ababa Peace Agreement, the Equatorians cried “Dinka! Dinka! We want Kokora (re-division of Southern Sudan).” When Joseph Lagu headed HEC everyone cried, “Madi! Madi! How many are there? (Madi being a minority group).”Since 70s, South Sudan is being slowly Balkanized. (3) Nobody knows why Murle is fighting unarmed Jieng civilians. When Athor went to the bush, he had personal grievances and the whole of Atar (his home constituent) did not follow him because their issues are not personified in Athor. However, Yauyau has been used to excuse Murle’s atrocities against other civilians. People say Yauyau has a grievance (what is it? And against whom?), and then they add that he is standing up for his community (really? What if those in Pigi, Duk, Twï, Bor, Wuror, Nyirol, Pochalla and Akobo – frequent victims of Murle start standing up for themselves, what happens?). (4). All guns must be laid down at all cost either voluntarily or forcefully and people have to talk or else everyone should be left to their own devices the latter being Somalianization of Jonglei.

(5) David Yauyau is a problem in Jonglei State if not the major problem in Jonglei State primarily because of his sponsors in Khartoum (see Eric Reeves’ blog from comprehensive analysis). He is exacerbating pre-existing tribal tensions into something much bigger by politicising it with illogical demands of separate statehood for the Murle. If the UN and NGOs want impunity to end in South Sudan and all rebellions to die out like the M23 inD.R. Congo, then they must do to Khartoum what UN did to Rwanda. The West must impose embargoes and sanctions to deny people like Yauyau supplies and sources to continuously fuel the rebellion. The UN and NGOs must stop the glaring biased approach with they have adopted in South Sudan and must stop undermining the South Sudanese government in the name of selective human rights protection.

We encourage every member of SPLM-DC and South Sudanese from all walks of life to join president of the Republic of South Sudan Salva Kiir Mayardit in welcoming Dr. Lam Akol Ajawin, our brother, father, and leader back to South Sudan. His home coming means a lot to our government, economy and democratic transformation.
We have all called and asked for his return, let us all rally behind him, give him the necessary support he needs and together we will make a difference in our beloved and new country The Republic of South Sudan.
We wanted to share with you this short message early so that you will make a time and a day to welcome him. Your role is important. For us, his coming home will not only reinforce and strength President’s effort to transform South Sudan to a fully Democratic Nation but also to irradiate and uproot pressing and triggering challenges of corruption “mismanagement of national limited resources”.
The call for Dr. Akol’s return is a right decision, in right time and in right direction. The demand for the supply of transparency and accountability has been over due to most of our Financial Institutions. The system needs to change; it is un sustainable and we can’t continue manage RSS that way.
Perhaps we can judge that God have answered our prayers that RSS institution needs to be reformed to prevent further constitutional crisis and to address the core consent and resolve of South Sudanese aspiration. One need not be an economist or mathematician to figure out what different policies of quantitative and qualitative easing and forward guidance Dr. Akol is capable of, what is important is our consistent stanch support voices for democratic Change is key.

Unity of our diversity is paramount; controversial messages of politics of personal destruction aiming to divide our diversity for personal interest should not be entertained. we are convinced beyond and above reasonable doubt that South Sudanese have a right to know what RSS institutions is doing with their nations oil/non oil money.
We may pose a different views, approaches and solutions but the underline expectations of South Sudanese is one.

The South Sudan Human Rights Society For Advocacy(SSHURSA), condemns in strongest terms possible the deadly attack on the people of Twic East County in Jonglei State that happened today October 20, 2013. The attack targetted one cattle camp at Ajuong Payam and two cattle camps at Paker Payam. SSHURSA sends also its most heartfelt condolences to the entire Twic East Community and particularly to all families of the victims. Sources SSHURSA spoke to on the ground stated 42 persons including children and women have been confirmed dead and 44 people wounded with 5 children abducted.

“The situation is deadly, the attackers used AK 47 and Rocket-Propelled Grenades(RPG)” the County Commissioner sadly told SSHURSA. He believed the attackers were rebels of General David Yauyau operating in Jonglei State as in response by the limited police force against the attack, one person among the attackers has been killed and identified as from the Yauyau’s rebels. Sources on the ground revealed to SSHURSA that the presence of the rebels was realized in the area and appeals were raised to the higher authorities of governments in the state and National levels to deploy the national army, the SPLA but nothing was done.

As SSHURSA strongly condemns the attack, it also gets concerned with the reckless handling of the security of the citizens by the Government of South Sudan. The attack on Twic East would have been prevented if South Sudan has a caring government. The negligence in protecting the people and their property is a fundamental failure of the government. The security of the people always remains as a first and serious responsibility of a responsible government but South Sudan’s, has shown the contrary. Article 53 and Schedule A of the Transitional Constitution of South Sudan 2011 directly task the Government with the responsibility to provide the security to the people and their property in South Sudan. The right to life is the first right which leads to the enjoyment of all other human rights and as provided under Article 11 of the Constitution and under international human rights law and isntruments which oblige the state to observe. Such a failure is unacceptable because the government cannot exist without the living citizens. SSHURSA condemns in strongest terms possible such negligence by the people’s government.

SSHURSA MAKES THE FOLLOWING RECOMMENDATIONS:

(a)To the Government of South Sudan to:

(i)immediately deploy the national army in Twic East County to protect the citizens and prevent regular attacks in the area.

(ii)strengthen the presence of the SPLA forces in Jonglei State’s insecure Counties that have suffered frequent and preventable attacks by the rebels and cattle rustlers.

(iii)devise honest and peaceful mechanisms to address the rebellion in Jonglei state to bring frequent attacks permanently to an end.

(iv)continue working genuinely to reach peaceful solutions to tribal conflicts in Jonglei state and deliver tangible services that will change the lives of the warring tribes to abandon savagery.

(v)maintain continued presence of the SPLA in all insecure states in South Sudan.

(b)To United Nations Mission in South Sudan(UNMISS) to:

(i)deploy immediately UN troops in Twic East County to prevent further attacks.

(ii)maintain continued presence of UN peacekeeping troops to protect people and their property in insecure and vulnerable areas which the government of South Sudan has always failed to provide with security.

(c)To the States and National Legislative Assemblies to:

(i)raise a hot motion against the government for its inability and negligence to protect the citizens which is its first responsibility under the Constitution.

(ii)impeach any Minister or any personnel of any office whose responsibility is to protect the people and their property in South Sudan but has failed to do so.

(iii)genuinely get concerned, leaving politics aside, think about the lives of their constituents and viability of South Sudan as a state in transition, work with grassroots communities and put tough pressures on governments for peaceful solutions to stop the frequent deaths in Jonglei state and South Sudan generally.

(d)To the Twic East and other Communities in Jonglei State to:

(i)remain calm and avoid any revenge attacks despite the deadly attack on them

(ii)respect all the times the importance of human dignity and life.

(iii)work for unity and peaceful co-existence with each other for better South Sudan.

(e)To rebels of David Yauyau and others in South Sudan to:

(i)respect human rights and respect closely the right to life

(ii)respect the norms, rules and principles of the International Humanitarian Law.

(iii)end rebellion and pursue peaceful means with the government as the only best solutions to resolve conflicts among the civilized people.

South Sudan Human Rights Society for Advocacy (SSHURSA) is an incorporated non political and non profit making Human Rights organization founded in June 2007 by South Sudanese Lawyers and Law Students at Makerere Law Development Centre (LDC), Kampala-Uganda. In 2009, it became operational in South Sudan with its head office in capital city Juba and co-ordination offices in the states. It membership composes of individuals and organizations who believe in its human rights protection mandate. Its vision isto advocate for a democratic and human rights abiding South Sudan and with its mission to monitor, document and publish human rights status in South Sudan and also train general public on Constitution, the importance of human rights, fundamental freedoms of an individual, Rule of Law, democracy, Transitional Justice and International Humanitarian Law , all geared towards creating a more responsible, justice and good governance oriented South Sudan. SSHURSA pays special focus on the rights of children, women and other vulnerable groups.It also keeps close attention to the strict observance of the supreme law, The Constitution.

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Jonglei state is making international headlines again due to all the bad things happening there – severe flooding and deranged murderous rampage. Rivers of blood continue to flow in the country almost 10 years after the bloodiest conflict in our living history ended. Pulses of violence continue to erupt again, and again and the response of the security agencies has been extremely preferential, tardy and utterly unprofessional indeed nationwide.

The 20th of October unprovoked massacre of unarmed women, children and the elderly in Ajuong and Pakeer Payams of Twï County is profoundly sad beyond words. The casualties are staggering with 78 dead, 88 wounded with most in critical conditions, 24 children and women abducted, 25,000 heads of cattle looted and 144 houses burnt to ashes. Yet, there has not been a single word from the Presidency, which is quiet telling. President Salva is busy preparing to welcome Bashir (the chief financier of the murders and Butcher of Khartoum) and could not spare to lift even an eyelid for the people in Twï County. Wani Igga, his wallowing Deputy, is busy celebrating “World Hands Washing Day”. Apparently, he is too busy teaching people in Juba how to wash their hands to avoid getting diarrhea. How about those who are dying and will not be able to welcome Bashir, or the dead and the dying who will not mind a bout of diarrhea in exchange for life?

Leadership is severely lacking in general but it is not the lack of leadership that innocent, unarmed people are massacred repeatedly; rather it is the wanton murderous behaviour of a group of people which must be stemmed at all cost. The army has had many things to say and done absolutely nothing except to let loose their lips. The SPLA has failed to carryout its function of protecting the citizens and their livelihoods. It categorically refused on 20th of October to airlift the wounded for medical treatment or even fly in medical aid. Its reasons being, that only two helicopters of the 10 in the fleet were airworthy, the area being under severe flooding, lack of fuel and a litany of other excuses. The citizens of Ajuong and Pakeer in Juba and diaspora contributed money and hire planes to fly the wounded to Bor and Juba and provide medical aid and supplies.

SPLA’s often cited reason of lacking resources and means of responding timely is a brazen lie and an insult because it receives more than forty (40) percent of the national budget. What do the Generals do with the money? In a self-respecting nation, the Minister of Interior and the Minister of Defence would have resigned in disgrace because they failed in their most fundamental duty, that of protecting the citizens. In this case, they must resign starting with the Minister of Defence who is continuing his legacy of “tragedy of errors” first as the Minister of Transport, then as a Governor and now as the Minister of Defence.

The peoples of Twï, Duk and Bor counties are victims of their own government. The MPs from these constituencies know this very well and continue to serve in a government that does not care, provide and or facilitate for the security of their constituents. It begs the question – whom are they serving? Are they serving themselves or the constituents who are being butchered? They too should resign their government posts in Juba and return to rebuild Jonglei State. The peoples of Twï, Duk and Bor have suffered and endured relentless unprovoked assaults on numerous times from Murle community and its affiliate militia over the last five years. This unfortunate statehood is reinforced and the disturbing amount of casualties keeps rising thanks to a preferential disarmament policy by the government in Juba.

The four counties of Jieng and Anyuak were the first to be disarmed. The communities in the other seven counties have been left with their arms and have gone on to butcher each other and the disarmed citizens of Twï, Duk, Bor, and Pochalla Counties. Ethnic strife in the country has been justified, dismissed and many excuses have been provided to explain it. Hostile tribal and clan rivalries that predate the present nation state, competition for resources, banditry, mercenary rebellions championed by Khartoum are some hypotheses put forward. The government, NGOs and many other observers can put forth all sorts of explanations but we all know it boils down to a basic point – Lack of an accountable government. All problems of insecurity would fade away gradually if there is a strong, effective and efficient government and protective security apparatus among the people. It is as simple as that. The government must fly the flag equally in all parts of the country and provide all necessary security and administrative authority and requisite equal economic and social support in all states and not just the seat of government in Juba.

The government must also level the playing field in Jonglei, it has to either disarm those who have arms or protect those who do not have arms. If the government selectively protects its citizens, the unprotected must look at protecting themselves, it is only fair and their natural right they do that. Therefore, Twï, Duk and Bor civilians must rearm if the government is not capable of protecting them due to lack of resources.

President Kiir is said to have decreed the ‘forgiveness’ of Dr. Lam Akol, the leader of South Sudan official opposition party (SPLM-DC) and the man who ran against him during the last presidential election. What is newsworthy about the case is not that the President has pardoned Dr. Lam; rather, it is the fact that not many of us were aware about any pending case against him.

Dr. Lam has been residing in Khartoum prior to and after the independence of South Sudan. Though he had been accused of having link to the renegade militia leader, Johnson Olony, there was no proof of the case other than that they hail from the same community.

Among the beneficiaries of the ‘Lord’s Mercy’ are some renegade militia leaders–Gabriel Tanginye, Gatwech Dual, Mabor Dhol, Gatwech Gach and Peter Abdel Rahaman Sule–who were jailed over various times and for various reasons, ranging from an outright rebellion against Juba to mere suspicions and hearsays.

While most South Sudanese have welcomed the ‘pardonment’ as a great step towards peace, unity and reconciliation, and thus political stability and economic prosperity in South Sudan, some could not stomach the unsettling fact that the worst that can ever befall anyone who rebel against the government of President Kiir is to get ‘pardon’, ‘military promotion’ and ‘unspecified amount of money’ to get settle down after killing spree.

This article that I wrote about Dr. Riek Machar’s ‘repentance’–which I still believe was a genuine one since he didn’t do it for promotion or to curry favor with the power that be–would shed more light on the dilemma of seeking national reconciliation and promoting unity versus the danger of incentivizing rebellion and wanton killing of civilians by these militia leaders and their would-be counterparts.

Like this:

KHARTOUM — South Sudan will resume the exportation of oil production within two weeks, a Sudanese official said following a series of meetings in Juba with government officials and petroleum companies.
Sudanese undersecretary general of Petroleum Ministry, Awad Abdel Fatah, agreed with South Sudanese oil deputy minister Elizabeth James Bol to resume oil production within 14 days, according to Khartoum based Al-Sudani daily newspaper.
The two officials agreed in Juba on Wednesday to meet again in the Sudanese capital within ten days to finalise the arrangements related the resumption of oil exportation through the pipeline.
The Sudanese official further said that oil operators were informed of the decision.
Last October South Sudanese oil minister Dhieu Dau announced that he ordered oil companies to restart oil production, adding the crude will reach the international markets within 3 months.
He however cautioned that technical preparations will determine the export schedule.
Sudan and South Sudan signed formally on 27 September an agreement on oil fees transportation. In accordance with the deal, Juba will pay Khartoum pay $9.10 and $11.00 per barrel respectively for the oil produced in Upper Nile and Unity states during three and a half years.
The two countries have to meet soon to resume talks over the remaining issues particularly Abyei and disputed areas on the common border. Also a joint security committee is to meet during the upcoming days to discuss troops redeployment from the buffer zone and its operationalisation.
It is not clear how many barrels will be produced per day. However, Dar Petroleum Company operating in Upper Nile state pledged following Addis Ababa deal to increase its production to 180.000 bpd.
Dar, which is a consortium including Chinese, Malaysian and South Sudanese oil companies, produce usually between 203,000 and 250,000 bpd.

Sudan and South Sudan’s new oil deal fails to guarantee citizens the basic information they need to hold their governments accountable for the vast amounts of money involved, said Global Witness today.

After several years of negotiations, Sudan and South Sudan yesterday signed a series of landmark agreements, including one on the terms under which South Sudan will export its crude oil via Sudan’s pipelines and port. [1] Both countries are heavily reliant on oil revenues and have previously fought for control of oil fields either side of their common border. While the new agreement establishes mechanisms for internal information sharing and auditing, it includes no requirements for transit and financial data or audit reports to be made public. This lack of public accountability is particularly concerning given the allegations of high-level corruption that both governments are facing.

“Sudan and South Sudan’s citizens are the ultimate owners of their countries’ natural resources,” said Global Witness campaigner Dana Wilkins. “Yet they have been totally cut out of this new oil deal, with no way to verify the amount of oil and money that will be transferred between their governments.”

The fees paid by South Sudan for use of Sudan’s processing facilities, pipelines, and port will range between US$9.10 and US$11 per barrel, depending on the route by which the crude oil is piped out. Juba has also agreed to transfer an additional US$3 billion to help Khartoum fill the gap in its finances caused by the loss of oil reserves now controlled by South Sudan.

The new oil deal establishes a Petroleum Monitoring Committee including representatives from both governments and an independent chairperson appointed by the African Union. This Committee will be responsible for monitoring the operational and financial implementation of the arrangement. [2] Sudan and South Sudan also agreed to appoint an independent auditor to report on the operating companies and identify any problems.

Though the Committee and the independent auditor are potentially very useful mechanisms for building trust between the governments, neither is required to publish anything. Unless their reports and the relevant production and payment data are publicly disclosed, it will be impossible for citizens even to check whether these oversight mechanisms are working.

The new agreement also includes an article on transparency. However, this only requires that the Sudanese and South Sudanese governments be ‘mutually transparent’; each sharing relevant information with the other.

“The absence of real transparency—meaning full public disclosure—in this new deal could have long-term consequences for democracy and stability in both countries,” added Wilkins. “South Sudan has included many strong public reporting and accounting requirements in its new legal framework. It is now all the more important that these are implemented without further delay. For its part, Khartoum should put in place public disclosure laws that enable Sudanese citizens to see how their leaders are spending their country’s share of the oil wealth.”

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22 August 2012—(Nairobi) — South Sudan has responded to Kenyan government’s protest letter, expressing concerns over killing of its citizens in the world’s newest state.

In the letter sent last week, Kenya warned that the killings could lead to revenge attacks in the country.

Addressing a press conference in Nairobi on Wednesday, South Sudan ambassador to Kenya, Majok Guandong referred to the killings as isolated cases.

He said the government is looking into the matter.

[Majok Guandong]: “We have seen in the press for the last few days, weeks, the question of Kenyans that have died in South Sudan. Indeed it is sad to lose lives. But this are isolated cases. These are cases that are committed by individuals and the government of the Republic of South Sudan has already taken some measures. All the culprits that committed such crimes are now under law. The law will take its cause.”

According to a statement presented in Parliament by Kenya’s Foreign minister Sam Ongeri, 24 Kenyans have been killed in South Sudan since 2008.

The recent uproar was sparked off by the death of a Kenyan pharmacist, Joseph Matu who died after he was tortured while under police custody after he resisted arrest on allegations of selling counterfeit drugs.

The media quoted Kenya’ assistant minister of Foreign Affairs, Richard Onyonka as saying that Kenya hosts hundreds of South Sudanese in the country and they are concerned that the killings in South Sudan could see the same reciprocated in Kenya.

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22 August 2012—(Nairobi) — A South Sudanese diplomat has denied media reports that South Sudan had written a letter to the AU and UN saying that the contentious Ilemi Triangle belongs to it.

The two countries claim ownership of the mineral-rich area.

On Tuesday, Kenya’s NTV quoted assistant Foreign Affairs minister, Richard Onyonka as saying that Kenya was planning to hold talks with South Sudan, and that the triangle would remain Kenyan territory, as it is depicted on Kenyan maps.

In response to the claim, South Sudan’s Ambassador to Kenya, Majok Guandong denied having written any letter to the United Nations and the African Union.

[Majok Guandong]: “The media is trying to magnify issues, trying to bring about some difficulties between the two counties. There is no such claim. We have not claimed this. Both sides know the position of the Ilemi Triangle. When we demarcated our borders with other states, we did not demarcate our borders with Kenya and Ethiopia. And we knew it because they are our brothers. I don’t think there will be any problem at all on this issue.”

When asked where the Ilemi Triangle is exactly located, Guandong response was,

[Majok Guandong]: “You know the answer yourself, why do you ask for something that you already know.”

Named after Anyuak chief Ilemi Akwon, the Ilemi Triangle is an area of disputed land at the South Sudan – Kenya border.

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What’s going on? What’s it that I am hearing? Is it true that you manipulate leaders of oil-rich third-world countries? That you cripple economies of such countries in a bid to bring them to a controllable state?

Being the youngest world nation and filthy oil-rich, I am trembling. To be sincere, I am scared to death. In order to be able to describe my fears and worries fully, I will accuse you in advance for what is likely to happen in South Sudan in a few years to come. In fact, I attribute my current political turmoil to your long destructive invisible hand.

I just “communicated” with one of your natives named John Perkins, an economic activist and author. He told me everything about what you did to get to the top of the world and what you are doing to stay up there. With the help of the media, coupling with your immense influence around the world, you incriminate good leaders; demonize them and eventually destroy them. I understand that you routinely send in your heartless agents secretly known as economic hit men to do the job.

In his book entitled The Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, John Perkins reveals that “Economic hit men are highly-paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars. They funnel money from the World Bank, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and other foreign ‘aid’ organizations into the coffers of huge corporations and the pockets of a few wealthy families who control the planet’s natural resources. Their tools include fraudulent financial reports, rigging of elections, payoffs, extortion, sex and murder. They play a game as old as empire, but one that has taken on new and terrifying dimensions during this time of globalization.”

Do you have the guts to deny that? Here are few reminders of what you did in the past.

In the 1950s, Iran, a country floating on oil, was being governed by a democratically elected leader, Mohammad Mosaddegh, a man of the people. Britain which happens to be your sweetheart was controlling the oil production. They were undoubtedly obviously sucking it dry. When Mosaddegh assumed power in 1951, he rightfully ended the deal and nationalized the oil. This pissed you off. With your greed for power, you jumped in with a road map for dethroning Mosaddegh. You and your baby girl Britain attacked him on many fronts; instigated a worldwide boycott of Iranian oil to pressure Iran economically, bribed street goons, clergy, politicians and Iranian army officers to take part in a propaganda campaign against Mosaddegh and his government. After a period of resistance, you managed to have him arrested, tried and convicted of treason by a military court. As if that was not enough, you sentenced him to a three-year imprisonment, and then placed him under house arrest for the remainder of his life. You also had his supporters rounded up, imprisoned, tortured or executed.

In early 2000s, you doctored facts about Late Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and Weapons of Mass Destruction, claiming that he was a threat to the whole universe. In the name of disarming Hussein, you invaded Iraq. You inflamed animosity between Sunni and Shia communities. You had Iraqi’s physical infrastructure destroyed to ashes. You manufactured thousands of widows, widowers, orphans and homeless people in the country. You deprived the innocent civilians of humanity. Iraq is now a nation of cannibals. The repercussions of your action are incomputable. Did you find the Weapons of Mass Destruction, anyway? Everyone knew you were lying. All you wanted was to stunt Iraq’s rise. You never wanted to see it grow.

While I appreciate your efforts in uplifting me from nothingness, including your tireless efforts that resulted in the achievement of South Sudan’s independence gotten through the 2011 referendum you funded, I am not happy about what is going on right now in South Sudan, and I bet you’re part of it.

For instance, the former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair just forced his way into the affairs of South Sudan as an advisor to the government. Now tell me the truth; what exactly is Blair’s mission in South Sudan? – To advise President Kiir? On what? I have a feeling that Mister Blair has some hidden agendas that are only known to you and him, and one of them might be:

Blair is one of your economic hit men unleashed to teach President Kiir a lesson for unheeding your numerous pieces of advice particularly the one known to South Sudanese people as “Obama 13.” This was a list containing names of 13 top government officials you thought to have been the reason why the young nation never grew an inch developmentally as they stole and hived up billions of dollars. For some reasons, President Kiir either thoughtfully or thoughtlessly trashed the advice and went ahead and retained the infamous Obama 13 in the government. This probably angered you. So, I think the current coup rumors in the country are an outcome of Kiir’s ignorance. The idea is intended to plunge leaders and citizens into the sea of confusion, of which is now taking effect. Some senior security officials are currently in detention camps, and South Sudanese are divided over the issue, with some textually terrorizing each other on the internet. How do you feel about that now? – Happy, uh?

Secondly, even my illiterate grandmother in the village knows that Tony Blair is a hungry insatiable oil dealer. He mixes business with charity call but claims that he keeps the two separate. Is he really in South Sudan to preach good governance or to find ways to virtually connect my oil pipelines to his motherland, Scotland? Remember business breeds dishonesty.

Two, I am worried about the presence of the USAID and many other aids agencies in South Sudan. No doubt it’s doing a great job including support for educational projects, health and sanitation. But the acronym USAID is imprinted on almost everything in the country, even on the walls of latrines and tree barks! Why is it so? Isn’t it another way of holding the country hostage?

What exactly do you want? – The oil? I understand that President Kiir is taking too long to choose who to trade with as far as the oil is concerned but don’t you think it’s too early for you to meddle in my affairs. I am too young to be tampered with. Look, half a population is living below the poverty line, physical infrastructure is non-existent, child death rate is the worst in the world, with 103 deaths per 1,000 births, leaders are corrupt to the born, and illiteracy rate is standing at 88%. Now tell me, if you can’t wait for another time to get what you want, don’t you think your unseen hand will create uncorrectable mess?

I know Kiir disrespected you by brushing your ideas off but you should take it lightly. If you want him out of presidency, leave it to his subjects. Most of them are already fed up with his policies. I bet they will vote him out should he dare stand in the 2015 general elections.

The first anniversary of South Sudan’s independence from Sudan is fast approaching, but the hoped-for peace that was the promise of South Sudan’s creation last July 9 hasn’t materialized. Instead, war seems closer than at any other time since the 2005 peace agreement that U.S. diplomats brokered, and South Sudan’s reputation is in tatters. Many who’d long championed South Sudan are shaking their heads in dismay.

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Without much ado, I am going straight to the point. I am phrasing my thoughts and feelings to you in this short write up to let you know that you just broke my heart. Why are you staying in Khartoum? Why did you opt to relocate to Khartoum? Did you independently decide or you got compelled by anyone? Did you really weigh the pros and cons? Are you telling me indirectly that you finally quit being a South Sudanese? Why quit? How about the heart, determination and commitment you abandoned your position as Khartoum University lecturer for in 1986? How about SPLM-DC? Don’t tell me you will operate from Khartoum because it’s politically unethical and unacceptable. How about the presidential aspirations you got? How about the people who voted for you in the April 2010 elections? How about the war against corruption you were so passionate about?

By the way, you don’t have to know what I am; you can just consider me a voice of reason.

I know everyone is entitled to live wherever he or she likes so long as he has what it takes to do so, but for an influential intellectual like you, it is such a wrong choice especially at these critical times South Sudan needs radicals, change bringers. In addition to that, leaving Juba for Sudan is in itself an insult to South Sudanese people who sacrificed all they had to free themselves from all kinds of evil acts meted out against them by successive Khartoum governments. You couldn’t move to somewhere else, Lam?

Though I cannot tell exactly the motive behind your “defection” from South Sudan, you probably grew hopeless after President Kiir miserly distributed all the government seats to his corrupt yes-men. He could not even give you the least important position at the ministries like that of a watchman? What’s wrong with Kiir? He is such a mean democratically elected head of state! I condemn the presidency for that anyway, advisors to be specific.

Uncle Lam, your move says a lot. It could mean that you’re a loser; the greatest of all times. Your vision and ambitions just died like that? Your political enemies will now capitalize on it. They will soon begin to prove themselves right by poisoning the heads of the masses that indeed the SPLM-DC party you founded is an armed movement against Kiir’s government. You just gave them a million reasons to break more jaws of SPLM-DC supporters and a trillion reasons to blame any internal armed conflict on you. The accusations labeled against you by pagan Amum which indicated that Khartoum armed a militia group you are affiliated with, shortly after Salva Kiir politically punched you in the face, leaving your nose bleeding in the 2010 elections, will now be considered true.

Your disappearance from the country’s political arena could reveal that you never meant your words, promises, pledges; you never really wanted to make a difference. All you wanted was a position to enrich yourself just like the rest.

Now that you have quit, who will fight the grand corruption in the government that is currently affecting the eight millions? Incidentally, a lot have happened after you left. Arthur Akuein, the former finance minister who seems to know much about the multi-billion dollar scandal came back with a loud bang. Amum took him to court for announcing that he, Akuein, wired $30 million dollars into Amum’s bank account. It was a very interesting case. The high court sped up the whole process and quickly acquitted Amum, prompting Akuein to say a parting shot: “I had written that the money was given to the secretary general of the SPLM, under his leadership. What makes it to be something that has gone to a private account? I have never mentioned it. My document is there. It will be interpreted further by people who understand English.”
Even media houses that reported the corruption allegations were also fined. What a court! What a system!

You must have heard that 75 officials stole billions. Kiir himself said that. 75 top officials?! That means the whole cabinet is rotten. Their names should honorifically begin with the new honorific, “Thief” for example; Thief Honorable Ngor-gutakalthi Deng-gutakaldit will on Friday fly to Dubai to attend a World Business Summit, Thief Honorable Butrus Ajak has launched a 5-year strategic plan……. and so on. See? If the baby country followed the modern international standards of good governance, none of them would run for or hold any government position in the next election, government. So, who would capitalize on that? Isn’t it you?

Lam-dit, you pissed me off when you shamelessly told Victor Lugala in an interview late last year that you did not attend the Independence Day on the 9th of July because no one invited you. Who the hell do you think you are? You wanted to be told to be happy about South Sudan’s biggest day ever? Well, even though Kiir’s government didn’t ask you over as an opposition party, you couldn’t show up at John Garang Memorial park just like any ordinary citizen? Lam please!

What are you afraid of? – Kiir? Why would he harm you? He knows the difference between right and wrong, not to mention the international community that watches every step he makes. Nevertheless, I wouldn’t lie to you that the constitution can protect you because the wrath of the law only applies to the weak and voiceless, and maybe a revolutionary like you. The top dogs have immunized themselves against some articles. They get anything they want at any time. I know those unruly ruthless and almost useless security cartoons assumed the role of a dentist and unnecessarily unofficially brutally removed two teeth of one of your top party’s officials, Onyoti Adigo. Is that the right way to tackle an opposition? But that shouldn’t scare ambitions out of you. In fact, you should emulate Honorable Adigo. He is so tolerant and focused. He has proved that nothing, no one can stop him. And that’s why he is carrying on with his duties as a citizen and as well as an opposition figure who considers fighting the system from within a better option.

Or have you finally realized that you joined politics by mistake, for the wrong reasons; and now is the right time to resume your career – lectureship? If yes, I am begging you to leave Khartoum and come back home and impart your knowledge and skills to South Sudanese students who are currently facing educational starvation in various universities as fake lecturers fool them. If you don’t want to be close to president Kiir and Amum in Juba, please teach somewhere in John Garang University of Science and Technology in Bor. Oops! Bor is so close to Juba. Just teach in Malakal or Wau.

The University of Juba is home to many of the country’s leading scholars in dozens of fields, and for decades it has been an important laboratory for social change in the Sudan before and particularly South Sudan. It has also been at the forefront of many struggles for political, social, civil and labour rights struggles, as both an incubator of new ideas and practices and as a laboratory in which various attempts to change the balance of power and responsibility between social groups, and between society and government, have played out.

It is two months since the Public University has been shut down due to clashes rocks in the campus amongst the students, since then no step has been taking by the government and the University senate on the matters, as they playing deaf hearing on the problems.

As to mirroring the clashes, it was just between the two students, and even they were apartment mate, although it brought many students in, it would not reached to the closure of the public University for two months, if there is no ego and political ideology behind it because the students, who fought last time, were those who are failure in education, so they want to poisons the brilliant students.

By then, the University administration {Senates} formed fact-finding committee to instigate the roots cause of the problem, but up to now, no results, while they are just received salary of no sweats, and no one questioned them…look at failed government, I am tired of them, even Somalia government is better than ours.

It proven that, the juba University administration is too weak to hammer out such minors fighting erupted in the university campus in the end of March between the few students of great Equatoria and Dinka, instead for them to solved the problems, they pre-tunes it to the level of ethnicity line.

More broadly, the Juba University Vice Chancellor, government and Ministry of Higher Education has shown neither a capacity nor willingness to re-opening the public University for students to fulfill their work planning.

In response to this failure, bring me to conclude that, it is scorch tactic of undermine or delaying of poor students education to finish their course early, and it’s another way of bestow chance and advantage to their children, who studying in East African Universities to get good job without hard competition but shame to them {government officials}.

The Government (Ministry of Higher Education), and Juba University Administration incapacity and lack of determination to ensure the effective operations of the University in the new nation for eight years has amount to poor equality of education system, but at the moment they want to clear themselves and trying to find scapegoat in the recent disagreement among the students.

The idiotic Vice Chancellor with his foolish decision of closure high institute of learning indefinitely with immediately ordered of the innocent students to vacate the hostels due to minor fighting at mid of March put them in the storms of hunger and frustration life, as they are loitering on the street of city searching for surviving means, but no persons and even the government to answer their suffering, whereas they are enjoys their days and nights drinking beer, and smoking a big weed tube {gals} at hotels in Juba using public money, money which the parents of poor students sacrifice their life.

While on the other hand, the Country government distancing themselves from the closure of institution, instead of pressurizes the failure Juba University Vice –Chancellor with his idiotic administrations to re-open the university, they just sit back enjoys their office air-condition and comfortable classical chair that fools them not to thinks for tomorrow future, simply their children are pursuing their studying in foreigners countries.

However, the country government, and particularly minister of higher education can pressurize the Juba University Vice Chancellor and administration in whole to re-open the public university, so that the infected students will wings up their years.

Indeed, in societies otherwise so thoroughly dominated by money and its colonization of every sphere of private and public life, it is imperative that public universities remain one of the few places where a democratic, non-commoditized public sphere can function, one that encourages open research and debate not overly determined by financial or partisan ideological considerations. It’s hard to see how societies can address the myriad challenges they face and survive democratically if the great public universities such as Juba University remain malfunction. Sadly, the current leadership of the University of Juba is contributing to the rapid deterioration of public discourse and to the stifling of knowledge production, which will be crucial to any possible economic and political renewal in the South Sudan.

It might well be too late to stop this process here, but those observing this debacle from the outside would do well to learn from our mistakes before they suffer a similar fate.

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Sudan says receives “large amount” of hard currencyReuters
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South Sudan Cautioned On Heavy BorrowingOye! Times
An oil field in Unity State, South Sudan [File photo | Gurtong]An international movement, the Global Witness has issues the alert following the shutdown of oil production in the country early this year. According to a report released Friday, …

KHARTOUM (Reuters) – Sudan’s President Omar Hassan al-Bashir said Sudan wants a lasting peace with South Sudan but Juba needs to end support for rebels in Sudan’s border land, state news agency SUNA said on Saturday. Oil, security and frontier disputes …

CAIRO, May 19 – Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi will travel to Sudan on Sunday, following a request from Khartoum for help over South Sudan’s invasion of the Heglig oilfield, Arabi’s deputy said. Arabi will hold talks with President Omar al-Bashir and …

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An unexploded bomb sticks out of the earth. Foxholes have been dug by aid workers fearing more air strikes from Sudan. Streams of hungry refugees are pouring in. The Yida camp near the militarised Sudan-South Sudan border now holds 31000 Nuba refugees …

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Developments so far in South Sudan point to a country plagued by tribalism, government authoritarianism and disastrous economic policies. By Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi | May.18, 2012 | 2:38 AM When the state of South Sudan came into existence last July, …

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South Sudan produces most of the oil in the two countries, but Sudan has the infrastructure to transport, refine, and export the oil. The deadline for Sudan and South Sudan to return to the negotiating table in Ethiopia came and went Wednesday without …

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The UN Security Council has welcomed South Sudan’s move to pull its forces from Abyei. (File photo) By AFP The UN Security Council on Thursday made a new demand that Sudan “immediately” withdraw all troops from the territory of Abyei that it disputes …

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JUBA, South Sudan (JTA) – This city in the world’s newest country is not your typical Arabic-speaking capital.

For one thing, most of the city’s inhabitants are Christian. For another, the Israeli flag is ubiquitous here.

Miniature Israeli flags hang from car windshields and flutter at roadside stalls, and at the Juba souk in the city’s downtown, you can buy lapel pins with the Israeli flag alongside its black, red and green South Sudanese counterpart.

“I love Israel,” said Joseph Lago, who sells pens, chewing gum and phone cards at a small wooden stall decorated with Israeli and South Sudanese flags. “They are people of God.”

Many South Sudanese are not just pro-Israel but proudly and openly so. There’s a Juba neighborhood called Jerusalem. A hotel near the airport is called the Shalom.

Perhaps most notable, South Sudan’s fondness for Israel extends to the diplomatic arena, where the two countries have been building strategic ties in a relationship that long preceded the founding of South Sudan last July.

“They see in us kind of a role model in how a small nation surrounded by enemies can survive and prosper, and they would like to imitate that,” Haim Koren, the incoming Israeli ambassador to South Sudan, told JTA.

South Sudan was created last year when its residents voted to secede from Sudan, a country with a Muslim majority and without diplomatic ties to Israel. The government in Khartoum accepted the secession, but in recent weeks a long-simmering dispute over oil revenues and borders has brought the two Sudans to the brink of all-out war.

With Sudan having often served as a safe haven for enemies of Israel and the West, the South Sudanese and Israel have had a common adversary.

In the mid-1990s, Osama bin Laden found shelter in Sudan. In 1995, Sudanese intelligence agents participated in an attempt to assassinate Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, an ally of Israel and the West. Khartoum signed a military cooperation agreement with Iran in 2008, and in 2009, Israeli warplanes reportedly bombed a 23-truck weapons convoy in Sudan bound for the Gaza Strip.

The first contact between militants from southern Sudan and the Israeli government was in 1967, when a commander with the Anyana Sudanese rebel movement wrote to then-Israeli Prime Minister Levi Eshkol. The officer explained that his militants were fighting on Sudan’s southern flank, and that with some help, the Anyana could keep Israel’s enemies bogged down and distracted.

According to James Mulla, the director of Voices of Sudan, a coalition of U.S.-based Sudanese-interest organizations, Israel’s support proved pivotal to the Anyana’s success during the first Sudanese civil war, which ended in 1972.

“Israel was the only country that helped the rebels in South Sudan,” Mulla told JTA. “They provided advisers to the Anyana, which is one reason why the government of Sudan wanted to sign a peace agreement. They wanted to finish the Anyana movement just shortly before they got training and advice.”

Over the years, there have been reports of the Israelis continuing to aid South Sudanese rebels during Sudan’s second civil war, which lasted from 1983 to 2005 and resulted in an estimated 1.5 million to 2.5 million deaths.

Angelos Agok, a US-based activist and a 13-year veteran in the Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement, recalls that the SPLM’s ties to Israel were kept discrete.

“It was an intricate case, where South Sudan was still part of Sudan, which is an Arab country,” Agok said. “We didn’t want to offend them, and we had to be very careful diplomatically.”

Agok said SPLA leaders traveled to Israel for training. The Israeli government declined to comment on the subject.

Koren says the relationship with South Sudan is consistent with Israel’s strategic interests in East Africa, where state failure and political extremism have provided terrorist groups with potential bases of operation.

“In the long run, we’re expecting that friendly countries like South Sudan could be an ally like other states that are built in a non-extreme way,” he said.

Agriculture is another reason for the alliance. South Sudan’s economic future likely depends on large-scale farming. There was little commercial development in the region during the war years, and the country still imports much of its food from Uganda, despite sitting on some of Africa’s richest potential farmland.

It’s an area in which Israel has deep expertise, and it shares that expertise in ongoing cooperative projects with numerous developing countries.

“We have the initiative and we have the abilities to contribute and to help,” Koren said of South Sudan’s agricultural potential.

Israel already has a small presence in the country in the form of IsraAid, an Israeli NGO coalition. In March, an IsraAid delegation helped South Sudan set up its Ministry of Social Development, which will provide social work-related services for a population traumatized by decades of war.

“Whenever you say you’re from Israel, they’ll open you the door,” said Ophelie Namiech, the head of the Israeli delegation. “When we say we’re Israeli, the trust has already been built.”

Eliseo Neuman, who is director of the American Jewish Committee’s Africa Institute and traveled to Juba with the SPLM when South Sudan was still under Khartoum’s control, says the close ties between Israel and South Sudan could complicate both countries’ relationships with the Arab world.

“The north was blamed by the Arab League generally for fumbling the secession, and some allege that now they have the Zionists on their southern frontier — meaning the South Sudanese,” Neuman said. “Any very overt strengthening of the relationship might be an irritant.”

The relationship faces another potential pitfall: the future of the estimated 3,000 South Sudanese living in Israel who fled to Israel via Egypt during the long civil war.

Israel has struggled with how to handle the migrants and differentiating between those who came seeking refuge from violence and those who came in search of economic opportunity.

Israel “takes its obligations as a signatory to the Refugee Convention very seriously, given the history of the Jewish people and the history of many people who ended up coming to Israel,” said Mark Hetfield, an official at the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society who in two weeks will become its interim president and CEO. “But at the same time, they need to send a signal to people coming for economic reasons that they can’t sneak into the country under the guise of being asylum seekers.”

In February, Israeli Interior Minister Eli Yishai announced plans to begin deporting South Sudanese who would not accept government financial incentives to leave the country voluntarily.

Hetfield, who is now senior vice president at HIAS for policy and programs, helped oversee a program in Israel that taught job skills to South Sudanese who planned on returning home, but the program was suspended when the threat of deportation loomed.

Hetfield says the group would like the Israeli government to grant South Sudanese a “temporary protected status” that would prevent them from being deported to their unstable homeland.

Mulla does not think that the Israeli refugee issue will have an impact on the broader strategic alliance between South Sudan and Israel. However, he said he has raised the issue of the possible deportations with the South Sudanese ambassador in Washington, and hopes that something can be done to halt the process.

UN council calls for Sudan agreementHuffington Post
May 17, 2012 02:39 PM EST | AP UNITED NATIONS — The UN Security Council has called on Sudan and South Sudan to reach an agreement on the status of the disputed, oil-rich Abyei border region and extended the UN security force’s mission there by six …

South Sudan: Fuel ThirstAllAfrica.com
By Victor Lugala, 17 May 2012 There is still an acute shortage of fuel in Juba. Long queues of vehicles and bodabodas are a common sight in petrol stations. Some motorists queue for as long as three hours and yet still go home without a drop of the …

UN council calls for Sudan agreementLas Vegas Sun
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Walk to End GenocideHuffington Post
400000 Nuba civilians have been trapped in the mountainous regions of South Kordofan and Blue Nile states in Sudan since June 2011, on the brink of a government-orchestrated famine. The Khartoum regime has intentionally cut them off from their fields …